


Intersection I

by Bihotz



Series: Pokemon: Boiseko Battle Etxea [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire | Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire Versions
Genre: Co-workers, Holidays, M/M, Married Couple, My First Work in This Fandom, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-12 00:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9046784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bihotz/pseuds/Bihotz
Summary: When my husband, Steven, landed his first job at a geology professor, he did not realize how crazy life in academia could be. Thankfully, when a holiday party went wrong, I - Wallace Stone - and my friend Norman were able to help him out of a tough spot.





	

**Author's Note:**

> As the summary states above, this work is written from Wallace's point of view.
> 
> This is first Pokemon fanfic, and my first written fanfic in a very long time. Please enjoy!

“He’s gay,” rasped a female voice.

My husband, Steven Stone, looked up at the speaker. Kudos to him, as I was quite surprised at the bluntness of the question. Sometimes I wonder if the professors here are of the book smart, real life dumb variety. 

“Yes, he is,” Steven confirmed. He spoke in these words in that distinct kind of voice - one that showed elegance and politeness, despite the rudeness of the question, but also one that hinted that he would not be pushed around. I knew from the start that he and Liz had some conflict between them, but Steven seemed to try his best to at least maintain some sort of professionalism. “Liz, please meet my husband, Wallace. Wallace, this is Liz, one of my colleagues from the anthropology department.”

“Nice to meet you, Liz,” I responded as I nodded my head. I would have wanted to reach out my hand for her to shake it, but the glare on her eyes made it seem that pleasantries were out of the question.

“So, you’re Wallace, right?,” replied Liz sharply as she raised her eyebrows at me. After scanning me from head to toe, she continued, “Lose the girly outfit. No one wears turquoise shirts and white pants to a university Christmas party.”

“Uh huh,” I replied casually. After all, the person who complained was a woman wearing a tacky knit sweater in garish red, green, and white. I know that these were the December seasonal colors here in our new home, but come on - she had no right to criticize my fashion sense. “Look who’s talking,” I continued, emboldened by my husband’s presence. “Check yourself before you wreck yourself.”

“Ignore the twerp, darling,” said my husband as he leaned into me. He said to those words in Sootopolitan, my indigenous language. Steven himself may not be a native speaker, but when he speaks it, my heart just melts. “She’s just jealous that she does not look as beautiful as you do.”

Liz furrowed her eyebrows at the sound of Steven’s reply. “Listen, you crackpot, my kids are here. I don’t need you and your fairy boy husband to ruin this Christmas party for my kids. So just leave this party, and take your Sootopolitan degenerate with you.”

“Our daughters happen to be working right now,” replied Steven. His voice was calm but contained an unmistakable steely resolve. “Had they been here, I would be appalled to show them that one of my colleagues is an immature, racist, and homophobic bigot. Now excuse me, I may not look it, but I am a very busy man. I have no time for a you.”

He left the conversation after that. He walked away with a firm expression, one that did not acknowledge all the attention that he had been getting from that conversation, as it was rare for people in academia to show off their aggression to another person, especially someone ranked higher than them. Mouths hung open from the exchange, but Steven did not care. 

I love that quality about him.

 

Apparently, not everyone loved him for it, though. Sometime later that day, I found myself having to break out Steven from Liz’s building while wearing his signature suit jacket. I don’t know how we found out where Steven was - it was Norman Takahashi, the Petalburg Gym Leader who realized that my husband was missing. He was at the party because Normandy Takahashi, his youngest daughter, worked for the department of on-campus living. In other words, she manages the dorms, but don’t you dare call them “dorms” to her face - she insists that the appropriate term for on-campus living facilities was “residence halls”. 

It was a typical sort of spunk and resilience that Petalburghers were known for. Despite Normandy being a daughter of immigrants - Norman was from Johto, and Caroline was from Boise, the capital of this state - Normandy happened to develop a quality that we in Hoenn call the “Petalburg Pluck”. But don’t let that pure enthusiasm take your guard down - Petalburghers are also smarter than they look. Normandy, an alumna of the school, managed to not only get us into the building but also gave us the location of Liz’s office as well as the floor plan of the building.

It took Norman and me a while to climb up the stairwells, as we had to be careful to close the heavy doors as quietly as possible. When I finally made it into the correct floor social science building, I took a deep breath and took in my senses. The hallway was dark, except for a cone of light from the distance. All I could hear were faraway voices laughing and the beating of my own heart. I padded down the hallway as quietly as my white show boots would let me - these boots were made for getting attention, not for covert ops. Norman on the other hand - he decided the wear regular shoes today, luckily for us. Those wooden clogs he usually wears would have made too much noise in the hallway.

I felt as if seconds stretched into minutes and then hours. My heartbeat seemed like it slowed in pace. Was it just me focusing on the moment, or was it? I ditched the thought. I fought the quivering in the middle of my stomach and stealthily made it down the hallway, where there was a light and an open door.

I honestly hoped that the villains would run towards Norman. He was much better at fighting than I was. Thankfully, Normandy’s maps were spot on, and I saw that Norman was able to place himself so that he covered the north side of the building. I had the south hallway.

The pounding of my heart seemed to resonate within my body and drowned out the mumbling from others on the floor. I placed my ear against the nearby wall in order to focus.

“He’s been out for a while,” said a voice. It wasn’t Liz’s, as I heard a Draconid accent in it. “I knocked him out about an hour ago, and he’s still out cold.”

“Thank you, Zinnia,” replied Liz.

“My pleasure,” the Draconid woman responded. “As I mentioned earlier, I am glad to have captured Steven in exchange for more Draconid representation in the anthropology department. Dahlia, one of your department’s professors, can help you with this.”

“Of course,” responded Liz.

“One more thing,” added Zinnia. “Keep the man in restraints, and don’t let him out. He may seem delicate - as you can tell, he bruises easily - but when he’s angry, he can be very destructive.”

“Thank you again,” said Liz.

“You are most welcome,” replied Zinnia. “Dahlia and I will now take our leave. We have to pick up her kids from the holiday party.” She headed towards the only door of the room - the door that leads out the hallway - and towards me.

I clenched my fists. Now, I am usually not someone who often solves problems with violence - I prefer to talk things out - but the idea of someone hurting Steven just makes my blood boil. Immediately, I started to think about how I was going to take all three of them out. Doubt rolled across my mind back and forth as if I were a can of soda on the deck of the boat. Would I be able to stop the rolling, or will my nervousness burst out from all the pressure?

My body decided to act before my mind.

I heard Dahlia scream, and before I was able to process the situation, I found myself slamming my clenched fist into the side of Dahlia’s head. It knocked her out instantly. The metal cuffs of Steven’s jacket gave my hook a boost of power.

“Wallace, in here!” called out Norman. I was surprised but also thankful that Norman had already made his way into the lab and pinned Liz against the wall. Zinnia’s body was knocked out and against the wall, no doubt by Norman. 

“Oh, hello Liz,” I smirked as I walked slowly towards the anthropology professor. I couldn’t help but realize that she seemed scared. Elegance and intelligence can often be intimidating to those who wish to do evil in this world. “I suppose you have seen Steven around?”

“Of course not,” chuckled Liz. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Again, my body acted before my mind. I found myself standing to the side of Liz and pressing my husband’s stickpin against her neck. Conveniently, Steven always wears the pin on the lapel of his suit. I put just enough pressure to feel the point of the pin but not enough to draw any blood.

“Where is my husband?” I demanded again. Normandy later told me that at this point, my eyes seemed to mirror the sea during a harsh storm.

“Two doors down in Room 329,” replied Liz quickly. “Take my ID to open the door. The keys for the restraints are on this table right here.”

I instantly grabbed the keys and ID and walked out the door.

 

I placed the ID card in the reader. It let me in with a click - much simpler than I thought. I quickly opened the door and the flipped on the lights. After scanning the room, I saw my husband knocked out and bruised. He legs and arms were bound, as if he were a prisoner, and he was chained to a wall.

Across the room was a Beldum in a cramped cage. At the sight of my keys clanging, it shivered and whimpered. It was not one of Steven’s - that I know. Its coat was rusty, as if its trainer did not take care of it, and it just seemed scared of people. Knowing Steven, seeing the condition of this Pokemon probably made him very angry - which is what probably caused him to end up here in the first place.

“Calm down,” I told the Beldum in gentle terms. “I’m with Steven. I’m here to help both you and him.” The Beldum stopped shaking and then looked at me with wide eyes. I quickly freed the Steven and the Beldum. 

 

“Liz, you are free to go,” I said as I returned to the room. “Here are your keys and your ID back. I trust that you will not need the keys for the restraints and the Pokemon cage again.”

“Heh,” chuckled Liz ironically as Norman released her from the wall. “No promises. And hey, aren’t you wearing Steven’s jacket?”

“Yes,” I responded as I gave the sign for Norman to make his exit, “and this is Steven’s stickpin. As you know, he wears it all the time. Make one move towards my husband in the future, and you will find this delicate accessory sent through your throat. And if he doesn't do it, I will.”

“Hey, isn't that a bit too extreme?” protested Liz. 

“You're an anthropologist,” I explained. “You know about us Sootopolitans - when we are ticked off, we can be as explosive as a volcano. So leave before I get angry again.” 

Liz left in a huff. It was calm for about 30 seconds until -

“META!” bellowed a low robotic voice. There was a high scream and then the pounding of footsteps to the closest stairwell. I chuckled. I had left Metagross at the end of the hallway to make a quick escape - Steven had his Pokeball in his pocket even though the university was officially a no-Poke zone - but it seemed that Metagross served another purpose. 

While dressing Steven in his jacket and white cloak, as well as all his accessories, I called over Beldum. It floated out cautiously, then it attempted to wake Steven. He stirred a bit, which made Beldum and me feel more relieved. As much as I wanted to wait until Steven regained consciousness though, we had to make our exit. I went over to the balcony and, with my husband in my arms, I stepped on Metagross’ back. I invited the Beldum to join us, which it did happily. We then flew into the night.

Of course, I was not discreet about my exit. I am, after all, a Pokemon Coordinator, and the snow flurry was the perfect opportunity to present Steven for what he was - the current Pokemon Champion of Hoenn. Even as Steven was unconscious, the white cloak rippled in the gentle breeze and gave the man who bore it a sense of life. Eyes seemed to dart towards it, a bright spot in the dark sky of an early winter evening. Many - more than I had expected - understood at least on some what level what the cloak meant. 

 

I woke up late the next day. It was, after all, Saturday, and last night was a bit too adventurous for my tastes. I rolled over on our bed - and I realized that Steven wasn’t there. Visions flashed through my brain before I realized that he was downstairs.

Honestly, it still takes me awhile to get used to our new place. Our old place had only one floor and, if you removed the screen dividers we put up after we had our daughter, it was technically a one-room house. Oh, the pleasures of living in Mossdeep City, where the cost of living was very high. Here in Idaho, it seemed like everything was on sale.

“Morning, honey,” I said as I walked downstairs. Steven was polishing up his new Beldum, which - judging from the open Pokeball on the ground - officially became his. The Beldum was definitely enjoying the attention, which it quite honestly deserved especially after being cooped up in the tiny cage that I saw yesterday. I went up to Steven and kissed him delicately on the cheek. 

He reciprocated. “Morning. Thank you for helping me out yesterday, by the way. No matter how many times you and I have worked together to save the world - I thought yesterday that it may have been my last day as a free man.”

I laughed.

“Liz seemed to be a piece of work, even after I was knocked out,” continued my husband. “Metagross told me that on the way out of the building, Liz decided it would be a smart idea to give it a direct kick. I’m sure that turned out to be pretty entertaining.”

“You could say that,” I responded. “I am surprised she tried to hurt those you care about even after I threatened her with your stickpin. She seemed so scared, she looked like she had seen a Gengar behind me.”

It was Steven’s turn to chuckle. “You threatened her with my stickpin?”

“Yes,” I replied. “Since you wear it everyday I figured that it’s a constant reminder for her not to mess with you ever again.” After getting a smile of approval from Steven, I continued, “I had this feeling that you and she had a conflict before our meeting with her yesterday.”

“I guess she learned why it is never a good idea tick off a Sootopolitan,” responded Steven, who was still chuckling. “And yes, that is correct. It all started when she decided that since she had seniority, she could use that power to tell people what to do. She chose to -”

I listened to Steven’s tale. I never understood why there was behind-the-scenes back-and-forth in academia, even though I understood the techniques themselves all too well. Drama and display, in my opinion, was meant to be something out in the open, something that reminded the audience of the beauty and enthusiasm that we have in our world. 

To be quite honest, ever since Steven started teaching geology this semester at the university, I was afraid that Steven would be pulled into the world of intrigue. From my own experience in other venues where behind-the-scenes communication was the norm, I knew that it was something that brings out the worse of people. After all, could you imagine how we could have saved the world from rampaging legendary Pokemon if all we worried about was how to lay the “gotcha” tomorrow for today’s allies? My disgust at my own personal experience as one of those former players of “the game” led me to become a Pokemon Coordinator and later a Gym Leader - I wanted to show others my talents out in the open. I wanted people to see me for who I was, not for how others perceived me based on what others had said behind my back. 

One of the major reasons for loving Steven - other than that he is, quite obviously, a silver-haired dreamboat - is that he is direct yet elegant at the same time. If he has a problem with something, he will tell you to your face - politely but firmly. He says every word with meaning. 

“Tell me about Beldum,” I requested after he was done. “It seems to know you it from somewhere.”

“Ah yes, Beldum,” said Steven as he pensively curled his fingers under his chin. “Liz was using Beldum for her anthropology research. She mentioned that she had gotten it from someone - I don’t remember who, but the point is that Beldum was her only Pokemon. She was mad that Beldum was not able to perform Psychic on her research participants, so she locked Beldum in a cage and left it there until it decided to use Psychic. Sometimes, she and her helpers would pour acid on Beldum, tease it, and do other cruel things to it while it was in the cage. The thing is, as you and I know, that’s no way to treat a Pokemon. But according to her, Beldum just lacked the willpower to use Psychic and had to be taught a lesson.”

“Beldum,” commented Beldum sadly as it heard Steven recall its tale.

“But - we don’t have to worry about Liz anymore,” continued Steven in an upbeat voice. “You have a wonderful family now, right here. Right, Beldum?”

“Bell!” replied the Pokemon excitedly. 

I smiled. This was the Steven that I knew. I hope he remains that way.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading my work. I hope you had as much reading it as I did writing it. Please leave a comment below letting me know what you think.
> 
> I am quite busy IRL, so I don't know for sure when the next installment will be posted. However, I am drafting parts of future posts up right now, and I've already have a few good ideas in the works, including one of the opening of the Battle Etxea, a Basque American-style Battle Maison.
> 
> Again, thanks so much for your time!


End file.
